


Tell me your secret

by thornsofvariousflowers



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, BDSM, Hurt/Comfort, I will add more soon, M/M, Masturbation, Psychology, Slow Burn, ooc because I don't know characters that much yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-06-01 11:33:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15142181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thornsofvariousflowers/pseuds/thornsofvariousflowers
Summary: Gavin has always known that there are things in every person’s life that the said person will never reveal to the world, no matter the circumstances.But is anyone able to keep it from inhumanly intelligent mind.





	1. There has to be a beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This ship has been on my mind for a while and I just couldn't let these boys be.   
> And I am bad at English.  
> But I hope you still enjoy.
> 
> Twitter is @meanchampagne  
> Beta is @phoculus
> 
> Oh and I decided to put a song in every chapter notes. Just because I absolutely love when authors do that.  
> For this one it's Oleander-Something Beautiful

Gavin has always known that there are things in every person’s life that the said person will never reveal to the world, no matter the circumstances. In every other case this one little thing costs human or android lives, and even if the detective has no interest in plastic beings, paperwork remains the same with both. When some little lies, crimes or quirks get out of control it gets nasty. And nasty shit is police work.

He also knows better than everyone that things that remain hidden cause a lot of problems even without being a reason for a crime scene. They annoy. And push. And sometimes hurt. 

Gavin’s main reason for annoyance is the world, full of androids. He shouldn’t even have to ask for it – as soon as Connor appeared in their offices and burned half of Lieutenant’s brains making him believe he is a real person, not just walking plastic junk, it constantly annoyed the detective, leaving him with bitterness more than anything else. Hatred would be too strong a word. He does not hate the man – he hates that everything around him is full of hope and positive expectations.   
Like it was once for Gavin himself.

So when he takes a dildo out of his ass, feeling even more cold and empty than he felt before, there is this bitterness in his mind. And shame. Terrible, suffocating shame that overcomes him every time he jerks off thinking about strong big hands around his cock instead of delicate female forms, and imagining himself being filled with hot liquid, satisfied, instead of finishing on the full pretty breast he used to play with every weekend before he became insufferable to his coworkers to deal with.   
Secrets that lead to the bad end. 

But Gavin does not care. 

His work is efficient and one day he will take Fowler’s place. It does not matter that he is a dick and everyone at the station already know that. He does not want anyone to put their noses in his life and he finds it somehow satisfying in letting himself go in a way that harms only the person’s ego, if they let it, of course. 

He licks his lips, still buzzing a little from the biting he did before. He does it accidentally when he is close to release and sometimes the action leaves bloodstains on his pillowcase which serves as a little reminder in the morning of what he has done. It makes him angry even before he is off to work. It makes him feel weak.

In this case he could not ignore Connor moving with determination and strangely composed stance to the Fowler office. Just letting him be means he also has to ignore the anger growing in his mind. Before he makes another gulp of his half-cold coffee he smirks.

“Hey, plastic shit, gonna finally get an admonition?”

Connor stops. He stops so suddenly Gavin tenses in his seat. 

Something is not right and Gavin can’t pick it up until Connor turn his head and a cold calculating glance of his blue eye meets the angry green ones.   
Connor does not have blue eyes. He certainly does not. Gavin does not have to stare at the bastard for long to remember that particular detail, and now this very detail is out of place on the face he was sure belongs to one and only android in the office. 

It does not take long until the android turns back and continues his walk. Gavin is certain he read the file on him somewhere in his head, making the detective into number of traits and quirks, clear enough to deal with him if the necessity occurs. Gavin just takes another sip and fights the urge to spit it back. Coffee in here never gets better. 

“Good morning, detective Reed.” 

This time it’s Connor, and there’s no mistake here as his frame is more relaxed, like his joints are somehow looser than the model’s Gavin saw minutes ago. And the eyes are actually brown, with something soft in them.

Hope. 

Expectations. 

You are the biggest disappointment of my life, boy.

“What have we here, our expensive coffee machine. Maybe wanna make me some coffee? Be useful for once, so to speak.” Gavin blurts out. There is no Anderson to lecture him and Fowler is distracted by another plastic prick, who is most certainly a witness in some really important case if he is in the offices and questioned by the chief himself. 

“You are not finished with your previous one, detective Reed. And I can prove my usefulness by the number of closed cases instead of being a maid. Which I am not build to be.” he cuts off. His eyes are sparkling and there is no annoyance or hatred in them, and Gavin feels like he is going to punch him right into his face just for that. 

He hates Connor, he decides. And this blue-eyed one too. Every android in the world who ever crossed a path with him. 

“I see Anderson lets you talk back but,” he stands and reaches for Connor’s collar “It. Does. Not. Make. You. Anything. But. Stupid. Machine”.

With every word he shakes the android and Connor lets that happen, looking at him with his puppy eyes, until he takes Gavin’s hands and forcefully unclenches them from his shit.

“I see nothing works on your character, Reed.” 

Gavin turns to Fowler who stands at his door, and beside him – the blue-eyed android, emotionlessly examining the scene in front of him. 

“Androids most certainly do not work well on my character, Fowler, and you know that very well. Take the fucking plastic dolls away from me and everything will be fine.” Gavin sneers, moving to sit back at his desk. 

“Actually I need you in my office. Now.” Fowler says it without any emotion, but there is something that bothers Reed more and more as he takes the ten steps to chief’s office. 

He is not working on any android-related stuff right now. He does not have any android witnesses either. Then why this pile of plastic is standing with him in front of Fowler’s desk, looking like a brand-new sports car at which all girls wet their pants. 

If he wasn’t an android he could be considered attractive. But very different kind of attractive than Connor. Gavin has eyes and his eyes, more automatically than anything, glided along the android’s form when he stepped into the office. 

“Before you start throwing a tantrum, Gavin, I want to remind you that there are five unsolved cases on your desk right now which is a record for you, I assume, so don’t get cocky with me or you will be running around until every one of them is on my desk with the “closed” stamp on it.”

Gavin rolls his eyes. It wasn’t that these cases were somehow beyond his ability as a detective to solve. It’s the fact that they are cold cases already. Anderson was kind enough to push them on him as some kind of revenge for Gavin calling Connor names and trying to shoot him once in a while. It must be revenge. 

“So as you are so pleasantly calm, let me introduce you your new partner, RK900.” Fowler continues. 

“What the fuck.”

This is the only thing that Gavin can muster. Having an android as a partner. Him. Gavin Reed. The person who knowingly hates every talking plastic shit that ever crosses his path. Who takes every step to avoid cases where androids are the main characters or witnesses. All this android shit goes to Anderson and his puppy-eyed partner. He is the android lover here, not Gavin. 

“I told you before that we need to deal with the cases that require more than human ability to add two and two. And Cyberlife needed to get rid of an experimental model that they said is better than RK800, but has more instability to it than the previous model. We need him. You need him from now on.”

It takes a bit too long for Gavin to access the situation, to finally understand what Fowler is saying, and his blood starts to boil.

“You know, Fowler, it’s not even fucking funny. You are making me work with a plastic doll so I can solve crimes that are beyond human ability? This is bullshit! This is total bullshit! We don’t need him. We already have one at the station and he is doing it spectacularly. I don’t need this shit to get in my way!”

Something clicked to his left and the sound stops Gavin in his track and takes away his attention, as well as his anger.

“What are you staring at, you piece of junk. Don’t ever think with your pretty plastic brain that…”

“Thank you. But I am not sure that there is a beauty standard for the android’s central processor.”

It takes so little for Gavin’s patience to finally snap. His hands are on a white collar, pushing the android towards the wall. Only he does not move, not even a centimeter. His boots are planted steadily on the spot. 

“Reed!” 

“I’ll fucking make you throw up thirium, you piece of junk!” Gavin’s hand is already in motion. 

But it never lands. 

Instead he is laying on Fowler’s desk, cheek on some report – Hank Anderson, he reads. His hand is behind his back, held tightly and almost painfully, without compromising the safety. 

“If you hit me, detective, it will with 90% chance end up with your fingers broken in several places. I would not recommend it” the voice above him says.   
“Let me go, you fucking doll.” 

Fowler is looking at them not without some smug kind of satisfaction.

“I will shoot your brains out, I swear!” 

His hand is surprisingly free, and as he feels relieved he also feels the cold. And anger.

“No way I am working with this. No way, Fowler, you hear me!?” 

Gavin storms from the office, leaving two of them looking at each other as he takes one of the files from his table before stomping away. He knows he has no choice, he knows that he has to work with this machine, his hands trembling from anger as he flips through the pages. Cold case. Android case. Maybe he can send his new partner away for a while to run after ghosts. Maybe he can do something about this collected face of his without breaking his fingers. Maybe he can just forget he has a piece of plastic next to his table that’s supposed to somehow improve his case solving. 

It may also mean he has to deal with the fact that the android Cyberlife sent is attractive. He is attractive and there is no way this fact could escape Gavin’s insides when his strong hands held him in place on the Fowler’s table. 

He has to escape these kind of situations altogether, but the more he thinks about it, more shame he feels, more angry he becomes every time he sees the androids on the parking lot.


	2. Starting somewhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's slowly getting warmer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much action here, but I promise some in next chapter.
> 
> Twitter: @meanchampagne   
> Beta: @Phoculus
> 
> I love you, guys.

It’s not about hatred, not completely, but when Gavin sees a white collar or hears the owner of it talking in half-voice with anybody else in the offices, he wants to punch that emotionless face with all his might. Nobody likes Gavin in here, not even Tina who was paired with him once and from that time although she tolerates his behavior she still tends to stay away from cases that lead her to work with the detective.

It is partly because he is reckless, partly because he was sometimes too harsh, but whenever it occurs it is, in his opinion, well deserved. 

So he can justify himself with rk900 in the same manner. Even better – androids do not feel, they don’t get offended, everything they know is a program written by one mad genius, so there is no need to dance around them. And Gavin does not dance around anyone.

He agrees – not without enough shouting and breaking his own pencils – to work alongside the damn android. Everybody in the office looks at him like his is crazy every time he orders coffee from that killing machine, but Gavin does not care – he is not in this chair for being afraid of anything, at in the least of things that have next to no emotions, whose actions are aimed only towards effectiveness, and there is nothing effective in killing Reed right now.

Cold gaze over the monitor and kind of a smile – all Gavin ever seen from that android. Even though the model was newest and the most progressive, it lacks expression of emotions, it lacks humanity, which the previous one, Connor, has in abundance. That fact makes work with it more comfortable for Gavin. 

Because he never actually believed any of them has real feelings – just programming that allows some degree of deviation. Not enough to consider that to be real feelings. Not enough to decide they are equal to humans.

It always strikes him, though, how similar to humans they are, and it angers him how he may easily confuse one for a human if not for a slightly strained stance and a quiet wzhooh when they use lenses in their eyes. He can tell the difference, of course he can, but his subconscious is still noticeably horrified every time his eyes meet android’s. He can’t tell then. And all he wants is to punch some of them in the nose to watch the blue liquid come out of it, and watch pieces of plastic come apart. 

Gavin thinks how nice it would be to punch RK900 and see his collected serious face ruined by a mere human, who is slower, less clever and obviously not so organized and fit for the task. Why Fowler did not let him just work alone, at least nobody would slow down this perfect machine, and Gavin would not receive useless advice here and there – android’s good intentions leaving him angry and frustrated by the fact he is not entirely capable to smash everything that annoys him. Which means it is not an option to have a serious fight with newest RK model.

“He is a perfect cop, fucking perfect cop.” – Everybody can hear Gavin’s quiet muttering and nobody is actually surprised. Only Connor makes his way straight to the detective, ignoring the terrified glances from his colleagues. Gavin just returned from the intense chase, before that there was an undercover investigation that led them to the most disgusting place on Earth in his opinion – The Eden Club.

“Androids are not perfect, Gavin,” if there is more effective way to concentrate all negative attention on himself, it probably should be something extraordinary because everyone on the station can bet on Connor being beaten right here right now.

“Like I don’t know. I can make a hole in your pretty plastic head and then one more in the stomach so you will just shut up and mind your business.” Gavin put a hand on the holster to illustrate his point. It does not confuse Connor.

“We are not invincible, yes. But what I mean is that our program always has some lags, things that make some of components crash and can be restored poorly. It’s like you being angry because of the androids. Your program is crashing here.” he makes a vague gesture, but Gavin understands. That’s what they call deviation, or partly so – parts of the programming working incorrectly, bringing something wrong into the originally intended routine. 

Broken plastic dolls ruining his life and the life of the whole city.

He does not notice when he takes his gun out. 

“Don’t you ever, ever compare me with you fucking robots! There is no program in me, I do what I want! You don’t even know what it is – to want something,” he spits out, not lowering his weapon. It is on safety but Gavin feels more calmer with it in his hand. 

Connor’s gaze that a moment ago was concentrated on the detective and his gun now flew half a meter up, right above human’s head.

Almost instinctively Gavin turns around. And is burned by a pair of cold blue eyes. 

“I want to finish last notes on the case we have just returned from and start another one in approximately an hour and a half. Do you think, detective, we can cover that?” RK900’s hand lowers the gun Gavin is still holding, and he does not resist, instead putting it back into the holster. 

“Why wouldn’t you do it yourself, and also work by yourself, plastic detective RK900, so I can finally get some break from your stupid face. Just convince Fowler to give you a table.” More out of spite than anything else Gavin throws a plastic cup into his partner, which leaves a couple of brown drops on his white uniform, and sits at the table looking at the almost done Eden case report. 

“Androids require humans, because our algorithms are not perfect and call for constant check-ins and other kind of assistance,” the android makes a gesture to Connor to go and leave them alone. The look on the older model’s face shows some kind of disappointment, but he obeys,throwing a quick glance at Gavin, who starts to chew on his stylus, still angry at every android in the room. He can’t help it, at least not this time, so, defeated, he leaves the scene. 

Gavin looks at the receding Connor, trying not to think about the other one, sitting right next to him, looking at his own report and making some adjustments. From this angle he can’t see that he is an android, but maybe it is what his mind wants to believe – at least with human partner he has more chances not to kill each other.

“I am not your babysitter,” Gavin says, starting to get less angry and more amused. It happens, especially when he wants some sort of reaction from RK900, and even if most of the time it’s just a bland response, sometimes he has these absolutely satisfying program lags that let the machine answer like he is a total asshole. 

“It seems more like I am yours.” 

This plastic prick learns from him. 

He also learns from Anderson, and Tina, and Fowler, and everyone from the station. He learns how to act around him, specifically, and this fact makes Gavin laugh along with the android’s clever answer.

He catches himself as soon as he notices RK900 slightly confused head tilt, with his full attention on detective, analyzing something.

“So you’ve got this one from Anderson or maybe Connor, to talk back to your superior, haven’t you?” he barks at the android, looking at him with all hatred he can muster, because this one good humorous moment was wrong, and he once let Connor on his good side, and this was not his brightest moment. But Connor is Connor, even being utterly insufferable, he is not that strategic soulless machine whose deviation is beyond imaginable.

“Technically you are not my superior, we are partners.” RK900 says without a hint of emotion on his face. Gavin hates this face, he hates it more and more with every moment they have to spent together. He hates the fact that he finds it attractive, and hates the moments when he can notice a ghost of smile on these lips, just a mimicry of the person next to him.

Gavin lets his hand slip on the table and drops some of the paper pages full of notes on the floor as he lunches so he can be nose to nose with his opponent. Blue eyes, unblinking and glowing, stare without understanding, without guilt or anger. 

He wants to do something so illogical that RK900’s program would crush, and the LED would go bright red and these eyes would be in distress, loosing it without even understanding what’s going on. 

He wants this android to feel, just for once, and understand how it is – being human. 

But before he can do anything the android turns away.

“Whatever was the point in playing a stare game, I missed it, so, if you excuse me..”

RK900 comes back to his report. Just like this he ignores any provocation or attempt to confuse him and Gavin knows that whatever he does would not work on this machine. He can make Connor look sad or offended, even though not so often, but this one is impossible.

“Whatever, plastic nine hundred-something.” he says without any spite, and looks back to his screen. It seems like a waste of time to try and provoke him now.

“My model is called RK900, but as all humans do not call themselves by numbers I would prefer you to do the same,” a sudden answer comes.

Gavin lets out a surprised chuckle. 

“Walking and talking piece of trash wants to be called by its name? What is it, a revolution?” Gavin pars, knowing that he is going a bit too far but unable to stop himself from mocking his partner.

“In working environment where I am functioning just as a human, it would be acceptable to call me as you may call a human partner.” There is nothing but logic in his words, but this logic is flawed.

Gavin can’t find a flaw right away, but is intrigued – what name can a machine possibly wish for itself? So he lets him lead in this one, not without his usual venom. 

“Great. Next time, what, a toilet will ask to call him Regina when I take a shit? Come on, spill it.” 

The android could smash his head with a table, could ignore him and his demand, could go write a report and hand it to Fowler, but there is no such reaction: just a blink of LED turning yellow and then blue again. 

“The name is Richard. I would prefer you to use it.”

And then he comes back to his notes. Gavin just stares at him for a minute. 

He wants to do something. Maybe crash his head and see his plastic brains for himself. Maybe make all his work messed up or irrelevant so this machine can feel itself useless instead of him. 

Maybe stand up and strangle him from behind, or maybe…

“Of course, plastic trash, of fucking course,” he says instead, shivers under his skin from the feeling he is sure does not want to feel or think about. 

We should have flogged you more just to get all of it out of you.

Gavin lets out a bitter chuckle at the memory. Maybe they should have, maybe then he could become a chief already, without the shameless incidents of his youth, without an android next to him with whom he should get along and solve crimes and do his best not to think of it as a human.

He hates this confusion going on in his head, but he can’t help it – all he can do is to remind himself over and over and over that there is only a face and body of a real person. Inside is a line of codes, even if corrupted ones, and not feelings or emotions. 

It makes him angry. Like when he talks to Connor he sometimes forgets. But with Connor he can just go away or shoosh him away, or call Anderson to take his doll back, and with Richard now he can’t do that. It’s his responsibility as well as his pain in the ass, at least in this model there is even less personality than in his wrist watch. 

“Detective Reed, have you finished?” 

Gavin jerks his head up from daydreaming and mutters “fuck off” without even looking at the android. Maybe he will go away, or disappear. 

And he does, standing up and going to the kitchen, so, most certainly, he can complain to Connor about how rude and what an asshole the detective is. If only RK900 had feelings. 

Gavin starts to work again, furiously taping and removing unnecessary evidence data from his report, so by the time that plastic shit Richard comes back he can’t bother Reed at least with this part. Maybe with this new case they can work separately and then compare notes and reach the conclusion. Maybe he can be that lucky.

Two minutes after he hears steps approaching and has no illusions about who can it be.

“What other shit you have to dump on us, plastic…” he starts.

He does not finish because of the loud knock on the table. 

There is a cup of coffee right in front of him, at least it smells like one. 

“You seem in need of some stimulant,” Richard says, pressing the button on his laptop and sending his report to Fowler in an instant.

Just that simple, just because it’s logical. Just because there is no ulterior motive when it comes to a machine. And Gavin can’t bring himself to say anything, just frowns, until he finds words again.

“It better not to be too sweet,” he mutters, taking a sip out of the cup. It tastes perfect, just like he makes it himself. Like this android shamelessly collected data on him and keeps collecting it. The fact that should scare anyone, but Gavin surprisingly does not care much. He can’t get into detective’s head and there is nothing scandalous he can find in Reed’s daily routine. At least for now.

“I am starting to work on a new case and I hope you finish your report soon and join me, detective,” says Richard almost mechanically, and Gavin snorts on that, hitting the “send” button, and then turns to his partner.

“Finished. Let’s catch some motherfuckers.”

Richard does not comment on it, just holds out the file.


	3. Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all work hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may diverge from canon.  
> But I try to stay in the universe as much as I can.
> 
> <3 you all.
> 
> twitter: meanchampagne  
> beta: Phoculus

Richard was a good cop, and not just as a qualified specialist. Where Reed was rough and remorseless he was quiet, logical and almost always treated the person they caught with sufficient amount of respect. This pissed the detective off even more, along with everyone calling this bag of nails by its name, along with himself catching the word just before it left his mouth. 

You are less than human to me.

Gavin lets out an exhale and buries his head in his hands, closes his eyes for a second and lets the outside world go for a moment or two. 

This android is not even a deviant. His program dictates his actions. But there is something in him – maybe in the way he moves or maybe not in a machinery inside, and this must be only an attractive face that messes this unwavering wall inside Reed, makes his lines all blurry. The possibility of it calms detective but not enough to stop staying away from the Richard as much as possible. 

“Hmm. Looks like we might have missed something on the crime scene,” he murmurs more to himself than his partner.

But of course he can hear.

“I looked around and scanned everything. There is 0% of evidence still in this building, I can assure you.”

Reed rolls his chair away from the table, almost crushing with Richard’s. He looks up at the android.

“It’s not the building. It’s the surrounding area,” Gavin assumes, still looking at him. Fucking perfect robot. Inside and out. But he can’t work with such delicate details being just like this.

“We scanned every piece of earth around, but there was nothing…” Richard starts.

“Exactly! Because the killer was never in the building!” Reed actively gesticulates like he wants to explain it just by using vague hand movements. It doesn't work, though, as Richard’s LED shines yellow.

“But there were footprints on the floor that were left presumably at the same hour as the death occured,” he says with doubt now.

“It’s the android’s footprints, and it’s not our killer. He never left the house either so that’s why we never found footprints on the ground” Gavin continues, turning to his screen and making a click on his keyboard. “Let’s look here – we have five registered androids in this hotel, maids and one butler, we just need to find out who was it, and maybe they will help us find the killer”.

Richard is confused, and for a moment he does not know what to say. But as he processes all information there is only one piece that is left uncovered, and that can wreck detective’s theory very easily.

“Why the android did not call the police? We are programmed to call the police in such situations,” he asks, and as Gavin turns back he catches a moment when Richard’s eyes look lost, his face first time expressing some sort of emotion.

“It’s the easiest one,” Reed voice is certain, even though he is not sure he wants to tell this, but there is no going back. “Because they are the deviants, so they are afraid we lock them up etc, etc.”

“Because they are machines and it’s easier to blame the machine than find who is really guilty.” Richard says without any emotion in his voice. “You want to go and find out who they are.”

And put them in the jail.

He didn’t say it but the end of the phrase is clear enough to make Gavin’s blood boil.

He knows what his colleagues think about him. He knows he is like a crazy dog for them , who can do amazing tricks so they decided not to throw it away. Fowler probably thinks that. If he wasn’t a genius in his field no way he would be here. But accusing him of false judgment is going too far. He would never do that even if there was a gun to his head. That’s why he is a bad cop. Bad cop for everyone, and now for a plastic doll too. 

He takes hold of his perfect collar and shakes him.

“Who do you think I am, you, plastic bag!” he shouts right in his face “I am not some stupid road policemen who stops people just to accuse them of something. I am a detective and I am searching for the real threat, not putting innocent people, androids, whatever, behind bars”.

He shakes and shakes him, doing no harm to the android but feeling utter satisfaction until his wrists are grabbed abruptly and diverted from Richard’s uniform.   
Gavin’s head is spinning at how fast it was, how absolutely professional and clean were the motions that put them apart. 

“As I assumed from our previous conversations androids are less than people to you, just machines, dolls or something similar to it. They don’t have emotions or feelings, so putting them in jail is like putting a blender in a cupboard. Or am I wrong?” Richard’s voice is not loud but in Reed’s head it’s booming like festive fireworks.

“You are absolutely right. But I am a police offices obliged by law to serve humans and androids so what you are thinking about is not going to happen,” he spits, “now give my hands back.”

RK900 did not realize he still had Gavin’s wrists in his hands. His processing must be lagging. 

As soon as detective is free he takes his jacket from the chair and calls up his partner, who is still trying to deal with instabilities and lags in his system. He moves though when Reed is almost at the exit, pushing the glass doors open.

Glass doors are impractical – notices Richard. If something explodes in this building they will have to take out thousands of shards from the soft human bodies.   
It must be very painful.

“Hey, dipshit, move your plastic ass!” he hears from the hall. 

He sighs. 

 

***

 

The case was easy. It was a simple murder, nothing extraordinary, a gun wound and footprints of heavy boots that did not belong to the dead man. Gavin could crack it up without even leaving the crime scene. But he was unable to identify who was the murderer even considering the fact they never left the house. Of course it had to be the androids, but none of them presented any signs of deviation, and that meant they were incapable of such action. 

It meant there must have been something they missed. They scanned the whole area so the chances to find something new were was less than zero. Because they were adamantly sure the killer was in the room. 

Gavin shakes his head as he enters the building next to the one where murder took place. He wants to sleep but the need to solve it is too big, especially when he was the one who started it. Richard is probably in the laundry or kitchen questioning his fellow androids and trying to find the deviant. Gavin hopes his partner discoveres more info than himself, because all he finds is somebody’s old crates with useless trash. Memories – they call them. Reed would be more than willing to burn all of his memories, but they are scorched on his brain, as dead and as alive as the detective himself.

“Fuck, it’s all trash,” he kicks one of the lockers and with a letter, yellow from time, something else drops out. Something that is not at all paper and rags. 

“Ha, what we have here” he pushes the locker away, revealing the insides. 

His hand does not touch the barrel, only removing everything that does not belong to the evidence he just found. It must be his luck – to find it so easily.

First thing he is doing is calling Richard.

“Hey, toaster, I found something interesting. And I need your eyes to scan it”. 

He doesn’t hear anything in return. 

“Are you dead there or what” Reed starts to get angry. Stupid android was given an easy job and he fucked it up.

“I still don’t understand,” Richard voice finally shows up in the phone.

“No time to explain, get your ass here”. 

The call is ended and Gavin hopes that his partner is on his way. It isn’t a deviant, yet, it has to have common sense as they work together. Because if not, Reed has to deal with it – he will shoot the stupid robot the moment his deviation seems dangerous for society. With all this new advanced technology android is equipped with it may be more disastrous than a maid with the pistol. 

He looks at the rifle one more time. Too easy. At least for him it is not a mystery of a century – he remembers more complicated cases. This weapon right on the bottom of the box seems like an imbecile move, but what they have now on their hands except this little piece of evidence and then an android, a deviant, who most likely knows nothing. 

Soft steps to his right attract Gavin’s attention and he puts a hand on the holster just in case, even though he knows who is coming. There is little possibility for someone to go into this abandoned building without being spotted by the concierge who lives on the first floor. 

“Here we have a very suspicious piece of metal,” he kicks the box one more time. “Mind to have a look?”

He gestures widely as he invites him to this action. RK900 notices it, like he notices everything around, but this small note, as many about detective Reed, is useless. Of course it serves the purpose of increasing detective’s productivity, but some of it has nothing to do with it. These files are like a nice collection of things he does not want to throw away, more like he wants to look at them from time to time as at a memory. It is strange for the android like him, but at the same time it feels natural.

He scans the rifle. And finds fingerprints. A quick search in police databases and he knows who it is, the shooter.

“Did you find something?” impatient voice to his left asks.

“I do.” Richard answers “Transferring to you tablet now”.

It takes just one look for Gavin to swear profoundly.

“Detective?” 

Reed hides his face in his hands and shakes his head. He was so happy to deal with simple cases, murders, thefts, something that does not require to get himself into deep shit as you try to solve it. He realizes now that this is going to be a long case and a dangerous one. That is going to add some new scars to his collection.

“Detective Reed?” Richard repeats.

“The hell you want, plastic ass?” he snaps.

“We are partners regardless of our feelings to each other so we need to share information in order to succeed”. 

Gavin knows it, of course, but telling information to a walking computer seems like a disadvantage. Stupid, yes, but sometimes all he wants is to pick fights with this machine.

He turns his tablet and shows a photo to RK900.

“This man. I know him and believe me, not because we drank beer in some bar yesterday sitting next to each other”. Reed takes a breath “I put him in jail after a big shitty case that I swear I’ll never be involved in again”.

“There are no names as to who was working on it” Richard notes.

“Of course there is none. It involved Red Ice” Reed states.

RK900’s LED turns yellow for a second before becoming natural blue again. 

“It was dangerous to put your names because there are still spies everywhere. It’s a never ending case until you find the head of the Red Ice production and distribution”. 

“You got it, yeah. What did you find?” Gavin scraps his stubble, returning his attention to the evidence.

“I got in contact with the android in question. There is nothing useful to us there” Richard’s voice is so robotic that detective can’t help but look up. 

The LED is a spinning yellow when there is nothing to analyze or even think about. It means there is something inside android’s head that causes disturbance. 

Gavin stops before he could say something. And lift his gun.

“What did you mean “got in contact?”” he asks pointing the gun at the RK900 who’s LED is blue now.

“What do you think, detective Reed?” the android answers calmly, like nothing really is happening and he is just at the station where Fowler can be a mediator of the situation.

“I think you connected with the deviant, which is, you plastic prick, a certain way to become a deviant yourself” detective comes closer, looking right into Richard’s eyes, when he turns to face him.

“Why does it bother you so much, detective? Connor is a deviant and you are not going to shoot him”, the clarity of android’s eyes scares and at the same times draw Gavin in.

“Connor has his supervisor and that makes him more or less tolerable. Not that I wouldn’t shoot this machine if I had a chance,” he spits, moving closer, pressing his gun right to RK’s head. 

And Richard smiled. Just a little but enough for Reed to recognize it. 

“And I have you. But you can shoot, detective, there is nothing that can stop you in here”

And Gavin realizes he can’t. He can’t pull the trigger, no matter what will happen next. If RK900 starts to kill people then yes he will put as many bullets as he can into its plastic body, but now, now he can’t do it. He lost to this android, shamefully and stupidly lost. 

“Not now. You are going to help me with this case, piece of junk” he says, and Richard just nods in agreement. 

“Anytime, detective”.

This is absolutely impossible, utterly abnormal, but as Gavin is putting his gun back into the holster he can’t shake it off. It’s more a feeling than a thought, but it does not make it any more understandable. It knew that Reed could shoot, he did shoot androids before, deviants mostly, but there is no fear in its eyes, just like in Connor’s when he put the gun to his head. But Connor is different now, somehow he is more human-like. The fact that does not change anything, but in detective’s head there is a possibility that Richard may be just like that, with the eyes where something more than the coldness may be. 

And Gavin hates that he thinks this way. He hates to admit that somehow this android fooled him and made him believe that it is a human or at least feels and thinks like one.

“Take the rifle and let’s write some reports,” he calls as Richard is looking thoroughly at the new evidence. “Dipshit”.

Richard smiles slightly, like, he learned, Connor does, and finds it presentable enough, but Reed never sees it as he goes to the stairs and out of the flat.


	4. Changing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes changes just happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ooc everybody besides Fowler, I think.  
> Buuut I promise I will do better when I finally get to play the game. Which is soon. And then I will be unstoppable.   
> For now I just hope you enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoy writing it.  
> The song for this one is: Hoobastank – Can you Save me
> 
> Twitter: @meanchampagne  
> Beta: @Phoculus

They’ve been stuck without any progress in the case for a good week, and every time Gavin orders RK to get him a coffee and gets “no” or silence in return he snaps. He snaps every time he thinks he found it, but the ends won’t not come together, and he has to solve the puzzle from the start, becoming more and more irritated every time he has to do it all over again. 

The man in question – David Green – has the most ordinary life of a fresh-from-a-jail criminal the detective ha ever seen in his career. The rule of “don’t dip your nose in the same shit again and stay low” slowly becoming “I need money but all I know is how to rob banks or something”, and that’s there he finds himself in Red Ice web again, reuniting with his pals and being given the job the aftermath of which Gavin can see on the screen right in front of him.

What does not sit well with detective Reed is the fact that the murder weapon was left almost on the spot of the crime scene, and that means either whoever planned it also decided to do something similar in the same area, or they think that DPD consist of mediocre officers who can’t put two and two together. 

The second one seems very unlikely because if they deal with murder there are only two options: him or Lieutenant Anderson (unless it’s an old case nobody can’t be bothered with) and both of them are capable enough to deliver excellent results. Especially now, when they are both equipped with the latest technology. 

Richard has been tolerating Reed’s behavior for now, even though he has already created a plan considering taking in the man in question. Detective shut him down the moment the android started to express his concern about case progression. He did not argue, partly because it was useless and unproductive. Partly because he constantly scans Gavin’s vitals.

Stress level: 70%

35-50 % was a given with the detective, especially outside the precinct. This however was the first time since his assignment when the level is so high. 

And the android doesn’t know what to do. So he decides to do what the other model usually does when his partner goes off kilter, which happens much less often than in his situation here. The moment the number of “fucking plastic prick” reaches over the hundred, Richard stands up from his computer and goes to the common room.

Gavin flinches. He knows he is absolutely insufferable on such cases, and when Tina was his partner she used to just put her headphones on and continue whatever task was before her. He does not know if androids have a feature to shut down any sound around themselves. They must have to, mustn’t they? They are just like walking computers with every tech possible stuffed in their bodies. 

Something flies past him and lands on his table, smell of freshly made coffee strikes Reed but, what strikes him more is a hand on his shoulder. He unconsciously stiffs the moment he registers it. What on earth…

“I believe you need a break, detective Reed”. 

Gavin recoils so roughly he almost falls from his chair. His elbow meets painfully with the edge of the table as he makes a turn and stares at the android with the most furious expression he can muster.

“What the fuck, tin can! Get your hands off of me and never! You hear me, never touch me!” 

Stress level: 90%

While Reed rubs his bruised elbow Richard analyzes the situation, his LED flashing yellow and sometimes going red for a second. 

He thought physical contact is something that helps smooth the stress and normalize or even improve relationships – he saw Connor do it numerous times a day, his hands on Anderson’s shoulder as he leans in to show something on the screen, on his chest as his partner is starting to become angry, - but here he is confused as to what has he done wrong to evoke such a reaction. 

“I do not understand…” Richard starts.

Gavin is already on his feet looking like a cornered animal showing his teeth and ready to go for the android’s throat at any moment. 

“What you need to understand, you fucking prick, is the fact that all you need to do is analyze shit and write your part of the report, and there is nothing, nothing else going on here. Because nothing can be! You can’t be friends with a fucking machine!”

The silence falls so completely that Reed can hear the neighbor division chatter from where they are standing. He heard his own words echoing in his head. 

Richard’s LED flashes red and then becomes blue again. 

Gavin waits for a reaction and is afraid of it at the same time. Something in Richard’s eyes makes his insides burn with an unknown feeling. It seems like shame, but if you ask anybody who knows the detective how he perceives Reed, the words “shamelessly rude” will be in a first ten. He is known for it. And also known for his adamant opinion on androids, even though everybody around started to see them more like humans after the revolution. 

He was so sure his partner was just a machine who had no emotions whatsoever. He was so sure but now when he has been working with it directly he can’t tell the difference that well, sometimes. 

It scares the shit out of him the moment he realizes it. The moment he heard the voice and felt the hand on his shoulder he knew it was a point of no return. If he lets himself accept them, or at least one of them, as a living beings, he will never be able to think of them as machines again. 

So he said that. He said what he thought, or, more precisely, what he wanted to think until he understood that it was no use. 

The moment Richard apologizes and makes his way to his seat next to the detective, Gavin thinks his small comfortable world is ruined now, and when he looks at the still steaming coffee on his table, it becomes more obvious that he fucked it all up. He does not know what – friendship, companionship, something else - but he destroyed it.

You ruined this family, boy. Look at what you’ve done. I wish you’d never been born, little piece of shit, and we’d all be happy.

Gavin can’t take it anymore – he flees. 

He doesn’t care what the android thinks about him. Richard, that piece of plastic, it was so easy to see him as a machine. Even though being patient and polite with him is in their very system, being understanding is not. Trying to be friendly is not a trait for androids to have. At least not in this model. Or maybe he is wrong. 

Splash of cold water in the face does little to calm him down. He needs to know, but at the same time he just needs to do his job and it has nothing to do with the RK work ethics. Gavin growls at the sink.

Deviant or not, it doesn’t change the fact that Richard was the first of all of them in the precinct to have a desire to improve his relationship with Gavin Reed. Ask anyone – they prefer to sort out years of paperwork to working with him for a day. Tina was an exception only because she really didn’t give a fuck about him and preferred to ignore his tantrums as soon as the first signs appeared. She would go inside her own head and let Reed be angry at whatever inanimate object he finds fit.

Gavin knows that attitude very well from his childhood, when he cried to let him back into the house at cold nights while his mother just looked at the window from time to time to check if he was still alive and pretended she did not hear his crying. 

He never expects anybody to do something nice to him. And he knows that androids do this regardless of who you are and what your background is – they’re just programmed this way. He also knows that Connor never tries to be nice, he always answers as he sees fit, and it’s just the usual way he communicates with everybody he has to work with, and this is as comfortable as it gets for him.

Who programmed the android he ended up with, Gavin can only speculate about. He can ask Connor, of course, but it means he has to admit that his views on that particular one are completely changed and he can’t have it right now. His pride is the only thing that holds him together, so there is not a chance he let his guard down.

It does not matter now. “What ifs” are not Gavin’s favorite part so he just lets it all be. And there is a case they need to close and they are on the right path. Reed breathes in and looks at the mirror. His eyes were red and encircled with deep purple – the sign of poor sleep and never ending tension. It’s a familiar view and the tiredness he feels is familiar too. He decides they need to act already if they want to progress in the case, and if he doesn’t want his brain to burn out and die before they even make a move.

When he comes back to his table Richard is not there. It is a small comfort but at least he can concentrate on the things that are more important than his android-human relationships. He looks at the evidence again. Should they wait until the murderer comes back to complete his next task or should they just go on and take Green in for interrogation – is the question that pops up again in Gavin’s head as he looks at the clues. Something is off, but he can’t point towards it and he is sure his partner tried to push him towards action too, but how can he do something reckless when his sixth sense is telling him there is something else to consider. 

“Fuck it” Reed spits just as the door from Fowler’s office opens. His attention snaps immediately as he sees Richard closing the door behind him carefully – a striking contrast with Gavin’s angry slams. 

What the android could possibly need from the captain? Complaining about Reed’s attitude?

Gavin shifts in his seat, but says nothing as his partner takes a seat at his usual place.

Nothing. 

Fowler does not shout for Gavin to go into his office, and there is no emotions on the android’s face, his LED a peaceful blue. 

If there is some shit going on right behind him, he does not want to touch it right now. He has a case, and he has his own feelings to deal with. Which is a lot.

He clears his throat and looks at his partner. 

“Take your shit, plastic, we are going for the man,” he says, trying to sound annoyed, but what he could register in his own voice was not it. Only strange roughness.

They did not talk all the way to and from the place of arrest. 

 

***  
The man before him flinches uncomfortably as detective Reed slams his hands on the table and leans towards him so close there is an inch between their noses. 

“Now, you piece of shit, is the time you’re gonna tell me everything you know about this syndicate. And this time I will not be satisfied with your sorry sobs that you only know the one who gave you orders. You are in twice as much shit as you were when we last met in this room”. Gavin’s voice is not loud or rough like in times he lets his temper out, it’s cold and controlled and there is something in it you don’t want to say no to. 

Richard’s LED sometimes lets yellow overcome the usual blue as he listens. Even though Gavin sees it at the corner of his vision, he doesn’t care as much – all his thoughts and all his feelings are now concentrated in one spot, and it feels like the end of the hunt but the detective knows better than anyone else that this is just the beginning. His confession in this murder means a little since behind him there is a big fish still in the pond. He doesn’t think that this man knows any more than what he was allowed to know by his employer. Last time he interrogated Green he made sure every drop of truth slipped from his mouth before he was sent to his cell. But it does not hurt to push the man a little more just to make sure. 

“I don’t know anything beyond that, I told you, million times! I can’t tell you what I don’t know! That’s all!” the man is trembling and Gavin lets him have his personal space unoccupied again, with a look of disgust on his face. 

He is done with this pathetic idiot who managed to be taken by the police not once but twice this year. This time for a more serious crime.

“I think you maybe forgot to tell us something,” Richard suddenly comes out from his stationary position but does not move – just looks at the man at the table with his cold blue eyes. 

Reed crosses his arms and looks at the android. They stand silently for a minute until the murderer opens his mouth once more. 

“There was…” he gulps “an android…PL series, you know, they are everywhere in that building”.

Reed makes a step towards him, but Richard gestures him to stop.

“Continue, mister Green,” he says with his absolutely calm, almost robotic voice. 

“It had the green apron and it might’ve seen where the man who hired me went after he sent me away, or noticed something..I don’t know how you androids work..”

Gavin lets out a snort. 

“Quite funny, you know, mister Green,” he starts, almost mockingly “You don’t know how they work but you are able to identify a model from a quick glance”.

David Green looks positively mortified. 

“I am done here” Gavin says, tired of all this word games and intimidation techniques. Tired just in general. It has been a long week and there is this android problem meddling with his own and honestly all he wants to do is to go and drink until the end of the cash he has on hand today. That’s the plan.

He pushes the door open and as he steps out of interrogation room he can almost feel the gaze on the back of his head. He can’t deal with it right now. Maybe when he sobers up from the considerable amount of alcohol he is planning to pour into himself tonight he will say something to the plastic prick he’s grown to consider a partner rather than e tjust a set of tools.

Detective turns and sits at his table, looking over the clues for this case he can finally put the “closed” tag on. Richard goes right past his workplace and moves to the Fowler office. 

Reed can tell for sure there is something he doesn’t know and he doesn’t want to, but he feels uncomfortable having his partner in the chief’s office for the second time this week. 

“Probably filing a complaint or something, plastic…” he mumbles under his nose.

“He would not do that, detective” he hears from above and with a quiet snarling looks up to meet friendly pair of brown eyes. 

“Fucking perfect,” Gavin spits “So what?”

He is angry again, but this time he is angry at himself more than he is at Connor, standing in front of him like a lecturer of android psychology.

“He is very direct, so whatever he is doing without you has little or nothing to do with you personally,” Connor explains.

“Thanks for the unnecessary information” Gavin says. He wanted to add “plastic shit” but the words were stuck in his throat, and he just let it be. It’s not like all DPD androids are going to analyze him 24/7, he is not that interesting of a person. But this time he was wrong.

“You know, detective, working with Richard benefited you more than I hoped for. Such a pity”, Connor says thoughtfully and leaves the conversation, returning to his partner who apparently had some problems with his computer. Again.

Reed replays android’s last words in his mind and somehow this “such a pity” feels like a grenade that lands right on his table, and all he can do is watch and count the seconds before it explodes.

“Reed! In my office!” 

If Flower wants something insignificant this time he chose the worst timing to present it to Gavin. His head starts to hurt from all these information, androids, murderers and clues that do not work together. 

This is the last thing he is going to deal with today. This and his ass is out of the precinct the moment Jeffrey dismisses him.

“Yes, chief, what is it? I closed the murder case and I hoped to go have some well-deserved rest” Gavin moves to the center of the office, past RK standing there.   
“It will not take a lot of your precious time, Reed. You did your job,” Flower says not without an acridity but it’s the usual thing in their conversation. It’s hard to talk to Gavin without being as much an asshole as he is himself. 

“I know it was hard for you to work with Richard here, and as I know you, it is a miracle both of you are still in one piece,” he continues, “and as Richard here kindly asked for being paired with somebody else after this case I am giving it a green light and from now on you, Reed, are relieved from this partnership”.

“What” is the only thing Gavin can manage as he looks at Fowler with a blank expression on his face. He feels blank, too – all of his thoughts swiped away by this sudden news.

“That’s not the reaction I was anticipating to see. Reed?” Fowler asks him, demanding explanation, but Gavin is not sure he knows what to say. He wanted it so much right from the first moment here in this office when he was told he was getting an android as a partner. He wanted it so much, but he forgot about it as he started pondering on if, or more precisely, what and how his partner thinks and feels, forgetting also about the fact that he is just a machine in his own opinion.

He wanted to do something with the coldness of the android’s eyes, with his own conceptions, to know, to observe and to understand, and now he feels like he has been rejected once more, and deep down he knows he deserves it. 

His father would have laughed.

“I am…” his voice betrays him “okay. May I go?” 

“Dismissed” Fowler barks, deciding not to get into details. It is a relief, if a small one, and Gavin makes his way out as fast as if the captain was going to pull out a machine gun and start shooting. 

He grabs his jacket and storms right to the exit, tampering with the cigarettes while he walks. He is not a fan of smoking, but it is a constant that nobody can take away from him, no matter what – he can always take one out and feel the bitter taste of smoke in his lungs. 

He sits on the hood of his car and watches the smoke fly off and disappear in the air, and tries not to think. It’s too much for one day, but in the end he came back to where it’s started, like nothing at all happened and Richard has never been his partner, and there is only Connor to play on his nerves in the precinct. 

He swears as some of the ash falls on his hand, returning him back to reality. 

No, it’s nothing like it was before. 

This fucking android messed him up and quit without even knowing it.

He does not know what to think anymore.

And more importantly: what to feel.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's getting colder overall.  
> But somewhere it starts getting warmer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry for being so slow with posting/  
> I have shitload of things irl I have to take care of although not as pleasant as writing.  
> I also have to finish my fics in Russian so it's kinda crazy to do it all at once in such a limited time.  
> But I hope you forgive me.
> 
> Twitter is still the same: @meanchampagne  
> Beta: @Phoculus

Cold autumn evenings came and one of them left Gavin shiver under the cold wind. He takes a small sip from the cup with the most disgusting coffee he had ever tasted in his life.

He does not know why he raised his hand when Fowler asked who wanted to be his plus one for Anderson and Connor’s underground date. Maybe it’s a very delicate way to punish himself for what had happened with RK900, or maybe he just needed some fresh air from all the desk work he has been doing, since he doesn’t have access to an android to get any useful information from PLs mentioned by Green. 

He could ask Connor, but there is a big NO sign right next to this thought in his head. And the biggest one is when it comes to Richard.

Since it and its new partner, - some Patrick fucking whatever – has been doing so well, there is next to no communication with his previous one, and Gavin can’t shake down the feeling that the fact rubs him the wrong way. 

Even though he knows that Richard did the right thing. He would do the same in his place, with an additional punch in the nose. Or maybe just with the punch in the nose. It would be a wonder if he, being as annoying as he was, held up for long being a partner to anybody, even to an android.

Gavin gave it a whole lot of thought. He had weeks for it. He came to accept the fact that maybe, just maybe androids have a bit of feelings in them. Otherwise Richard asking to change partner just doesn’t make sense.

It hurts just as much as his mother shouting at him through the phone, saying he wants Gavin from two years ago to come home, but not him. He can go wherever he wants. By that time he already decided to not care much about what his parents think, but even so, it stings, like an annoying bug you can’t see and can’t care less, but still it is here and it can make you pretty uncomfortable. 

He couldn’t be friends with the robot. But he wanted it.

This want is impossible and illogical and absolutely not fulfillable, and Gavin’s only desire is to scratch it off completely from his mind as he takes another sip of the tasteless bitterness. 

Anderson and his android partner are inside and Reed is here only to monitor the entrance for the reinforcements, which is unreasonable and unlikely but still possible, so he drinks and watches.

This small sex club, as many others, might have kidnapped androids which were reprogrammed to serve as pleasure bots, and this is the last thing detective wants to think about as his adamant faith in emotionless androids begins to crumble. 

It’s like he is on a sex traffic case only victims don’t even know that they are victims. 

Gavin rubs his hands and tries not to feel the chill, and he tosses a cup into the garbage can. Where is nothing he can entertain himself with, only smoking, but it was ages since he smoked his last one – always busy with work as he only has one pair of hands in his disposal. He is not sure he wants to – it dims his sharpness and takes away attention he needs right now. He may dislike Hank and Connor but he would never let them get into a dangerous situation because of his carelessness. 

The time is too slow when you’re just sitting around, especially compared to being in the middle of action. On the other hand, Gavin is for sure more patient with time than he is with people. Tina once said he should try it the other way around some time, but Reed was never too keen on letting people trashing his mind with their bullshit, he had enough of it in his youth. 

To be fair, nobody had patience for him, too. Even fucking android could put up with the detective only for several weeks. The case development has stopped. And so did Reed’s enthusiasm for going on through the evidence one more time. There’s no use without PL’s memories, and no one but Richard could get an access, except he was in another department, doing some work on domestic abuse or rape cases or maybe he’s taking kittens down from the trees. 

It takes three seconds for Gavin to notice a commotion in the neighborhood, two more to react. He has his eye on a door and can’t move from the spot, but there is something he can do to stop the act of violence.

There are three quite big men and one android between them, small and fragile, even for a robot. PL series, they are mostly like that, with his “don’t cause harm” directive. It lacks an arm and has his lips and eye hit at least three time, blue blood coloring the ground.

The alignment isn’t fair, no matter the cause of the brawl, and you can say Gavin is an asshole, but such rude injustice floods his mind with cold fury. And for a split second he thinks that this is an android, and it does not feel pain and does not care if it’s even being dismantled, but his hand goes to the holster all the same.

«Hey, assholes, get the fuck away from the android!” he shouts, fingers on the gun, though it is still not in the air. 

They shoot him a disgusted look.

“And you, piece of shit, who are you to tell us what to do? It’s a pile of trash, nothing human inside, we can do whatever the fuck we want with this,” one of them answers, the leader, or, at least, the most brave one.

Gavin stops for a moment, thinking over the statement. What is he going to do? What is it for? Should he just let them, because it’s not a human, not a real living being?

He slowly pulls his gun out of the holster.

What is he ever thinking about?

“By the law they are our equals, dipshit, so leave the lad be, or there will be consequences”. 

He has already made up his mind. It does not matter that the one he owes this insight to had ditched him like the shit he is.

“Ohh, look at you, little android sympathizer, so you think this one’s gonna be grateful?” the same man says.

He yanks the android by its neck and step on it.

Gavin makes three shots. All in the air.

The assumption was that they will be scared enough to leave the poor bot and go.

In reality they are so scared that the leader trips over PL and smashes his face to the ground, leaving a red spot near his prey, in a humiliating attempt to escape the hypothetical shot.

“Pathetic bullies” grunts detective, hiding his weapon. He knows that it was reckless and potentially harmful for their case, but on the other hand this neighborhood is full of drug trafficking and murder cases, he’s come to know it well, looking through the reports of other departments in hope that something connected to his own activity would surface. It helped him dozens of times.

“Hey, plastic, are you okay…as much okay as you can be?” he says loud enough for the android to hear. The latter is already on his hands and knees, probably running a diagnostic of his systems. LED bright yellow.

His phone starts ringing suddenly, and he doesn’t even have to look up who is calling.

“What the fuck’s going on there?” Anderson’s voice is concerned but calm coming through the phone, but Gavin knows in reality the old man wants to run out and shoot him himself for an additional show.

“Sun is shining, birds singing, don’t you have a window in there?” answers Reed roughly. 

“Don’t make me angry, Reed, what’s with the gunshots?” he is not half as angry, more disappointed.

It’s so familiar to Gavin, he wants to shout at Anderson himself.

“Had to put up a little show to prevent some violence on the streets as a good cop that I am” he says.

Another sign on the other end of the phone.

“Whatever, just don’t do it again”. 

Reed wants to shoot himself this time, but he just rolls his eyes.

“Whatever you say, mother,” and ends the call.

Just in time to see the android standing next to him, looking like he wants to say something and Gavin gives him an annoyed “yes?” as an encouragement.

“You are that cop from before. With RK900 android,” he says as a matter of fact.

Gavin can’t hide his surprise. Not that he really needed to.

PL series from the hotel. Not the female one, which there were plenty, but the male, probably the only one. Detective can’t recall seeing him before.

“And you are a hotel stuff. Thought they only had girls,” he muses.

Android’s unexpectantly smiling.

“I am, or actually was an administrator. Humans tend to believe that men are more reliable than women. I find that rather narrow-minded,” he says.

There is something in him that feels out of place. Like the bot is forcing himself to appear the certain way. It’s a familiar perception but Gavin can’t find a place it came from before. 

“You are a deviant. That’s why those men were so pissy,” Reed concludes. 

PL shakes his head, still looking at the detective, as he is calculating something. Probability of getting arrested because he stole something from his boss or did something to get bullies set on his tail. Gavin can only speculate, even so - less than with humans. Though he can understand something as simple as hatred towards the android just because it was not a human being.

“I am, but no, it’s not because of my mindset. It’s because of what I know,” the android says, “and you saved me, detective, so I think I should tell you”. 

In no right state of mind Gavin would predict that his lookout job would provide something useful to the case he is failing to deal with. This fucking case he needed an android for, and now he has one, but not quite in a way he expected.

“Quid pro quo, plastic? I didn’t do it for the information, but go on,” Gavin grumbles, still looking at the entrance he is supposed to watch over. Nothing interesting there.

“It’s not about profit, detective,” there is a strange sound resembling laugh, and Reed shifts his attention to the android, “I am truly grateful, and this is the only thing I can do to show how much. I treasure my life as you, humans, treasure yours.”

Gavin can only agree with it. He sees a sparkle of something real in deviant’s eyes, and for now, Reed decides, it is enough for him to forget that under it all there is is wires and codes.

He nods and lets the android continue.

“RK900 will probably come back if he didn’t already, and try to communicate with other androids there. But the information he will get is doomed to be deceitful. It will lead him and others into a trap”.

For a second Gavin thinks it’s some kind of a joke. But then he starts to realize.

It was so easy to find the hidden evidence that led them to Green. It was too easy to get information from him, with a minimal force applied, and he cracked like a rotten fruit, full of false confessions that were actually a very well created neon signs for the fools that decided to find the end of the road. Only what they will find will be another end.

“It doesn’t seem like you are lying, dipshit,” he says slowly, estimating the possibility, “but where is the right place then?”

And he told Reed. The address and names, - not many, but enough to have a clue for where he was heading. All he needs now is to find the place and finish this long-term insanity, and maybe if he stops seeing Richard in the elevator, chatting amicably with his partner, LED deadly blue color, it’s going to be okay again. Not completely, but he can deal with mental discomfort but not pain. It brings back memories.

It took Anderson and Connor long enough to finish gathering information, and they headed to another location, then another, driving Reed insane with the knowledge he was carrying and wasn’t able to put into practical use, talk it through with Fowler and send a team, him included, to the place pointed out by the deviated administration android. By the time they reached the precinct, sun was starting to go down and Gavin’s eye starts to twitch with anticipation.

There is an issue with reliability of information received from an unknown source, says Fowler first when Gavin put it in front of him.

Of course he does not believe that the detective gives a fuck about some half-disassembled android attacked on the street. There is no actual law that protects them yet. His actions, no matter how admirable, are not actually backed by law. 

“And no matter what this android said to you, - and neither him nor you can prove his words to me, - the team has already located the place and is heading out,” Fowler informs him.

Gavin knows this is ridiculous, knows he couldn’t do anything about it, but the feeling like he failed raises up in him and he has to struggle to regain his normal pattern of breathing.

“Jeffrey, call them off. Call them off and I will take the responsibility for whatever happens after,” he almost jumps to chief’s table, hands on the wood, nails almost scratching. He can’t shout but the desperation in his eyes is clear enough.

Fowler shakes his head.

“What am I supposed to say? We both know how it works. I can only hope…” 

Gavin’s fist slams on the table. 

Hope does nothing. It never did to him. You can hope all you want, but it’s actions that count. Bullets, not an ephemeral thing you have in your head, can end or save lives. People will not stop if you only want them to. You need to stop them yourself.

He hears “Gavin, do anything stupid and you are suspended” thrown at his back, but it’s not the first time he receives a threat like this. 

He knows the location, the android provided him with everything he needs to know, and it’s either he is going to make a fool of himself or save at least one of them.  
Maybe he can save Richard.

Fowler said that as his case was on hold, the only obvious decision was to let Richard and his partner come in and push it a bit. They were relatively free so Richard came and retrieved the location from one of hotel androids, PL series Reed mentioned in his report. The information seemed too urgent to just sit down and wait – crime lords are not stupid, especially the ones that deal with Red Ice distribution, so they took five more people and made it out half an hour ago.

If Gavin finds a fast car he could make it, because, unlike androids he can violate some rules and put the pedal into the floor, not caring about his own safety.

He notices police cars right away, dull and empty in the shadows of manufacturing buildings. Gavin curses under his breath, getting out of his own, running in the direction of the particularly old one in the farthest corner, where his fellow policemen believe mafia’s stronghold is located.

He stops as soon as he hears the sound of pistol shutter.

“Detective Reed?” the quiet voice inquires, certainly not android, absolutely is his new shining partner.

“Yes, asshole, thanks for waiting for me before closing my own fucking case,” he snaps. He does not care about niceties now. This bullshit is beyond Fowler’s jurisdiction – this is personal, and Gavin can’t stand people messing with him or behind his back.

“We are almost here” the other voice says from the shadows. It’s almost night already and only street lanterns are dispersing the darkness. Reed’s face is unreadable and so is his companion’s. 

“You’ve almost gotten yourself into a trap. Congratulation,” he muses. He oh so wants to see their faces right now.

“Trap?” Patrick says doubtfully, but thankfully his gun is down, otherwise Reed would surely make him regret it, “but we got these coordinates from PL androids in a hotel”.

Gavin sighs in disbelief. More to himself, as he almost bought it too.

“And who do you think put it in there?” he says “and what for? To invite us to their new year party?”

That is stupid, so stupid, but not much stupider than him believing some android from the street. But in order to move on we need to adopt an option, to believe that one thing is truth and the other is not. 

Otherwise everybody is lying. And Gavin still desperately wants to hope that someone, some fucking human or android or Martians would be honest with him.

He looks at the figures – something is missing.

“Where is the tin can?” he realizes.

“An android? He is already in the building, I think, taking down the guards,” one says.

Of course they sent an android while sitting here drinking lemonade and having a pleasant conversation, Gavin thinks, getting more riled up with every passing second.

He hates such people. He hates how they say all the nice things and then make you go in first to save them from direct fire. To die for their fat hypocritical asses.

The run he makes is one of the fastest in his life, because he knows, somehow, that any second is critical, and the deviant he was talking on the street said the truth and now the android, Richard, is in the middle of the cross fire somewhere in the building. He can sense it and then he can hear it – second floor.

Gavin takes his time to find a back door and if Richard came in there through it – which is more likely – the path should be clear enough to get to his destination.

He takes a step into a dimly lit hallway and first thing he notices right away is blue blood. On a floor and on the walls, followed by the plastic bodies in unnatural poses, lying and sitting, all the way to the staircase. Deactivated. 

Dead.

His heart is beating a bit faster, rushing adrenalin, a small amount for now, into his blood. There are so many, and obviously they used these androids like a cannon fodder, with a thought that the quantity will overflow people who come here. It makes Reed sick. It also makes him go faster.

On the last flight of stairs there is an android, facing probably RK900, shooting fiercely but not expecting that his target may change the location and be right behind him. As much as Gavin doesn’t like to shoot in the back, the top priority now is to get Richard and himself out of this hell.

Too many.

There is still too many enemies on the floor, aiming at one spot, which gives Reed an advantage to calculate and overcome the ones that prevent them from fleeing.

Gavin also dislikes running away, but there are situation with no other options and this one is now. He is not stupid – he needs to survive and he needs to get his partner out of here.

He shoots once.

Then twice.

By the time the third android is down Richard notices him. And so do the enemies. 

“We need to get out of here!” Gavin shouts, aiming for another one but they all are just too fast for him to do that precisely.

He shows him three fingers. Then four. These are the locations of enemies they need to eliminate to have a chance to escape. Reed believes they can make it. Even when his arm is bleeding from a bullet scratching it and he sees how badly it is for RK, he chooses to believe they will survive. 

He knows that Richard has already calculated his death percentage.

It does make sense, but at the same time it doesn’t, as it’s mostly skills and luck that works their magic on the battlefield. His own actions with a bit of nicely timed physics. 

With five bullets they got rid of their obstacles, and this time, when Gavin shows him three fingers it’s about time.

Two, One.

They run.

Gavin tries not to think at the moments like this. Because there is always a chance that they get a bullet in their backs or heads. It brings an adrenaline rush to the whole new level and when they burst through the back door it takes several minutes until he finds himself on a back seat of his own car, bloody and laughing like crazy.

Everybody looks at him like he is an absolute madman. 

Except for RK900 who is watching him with an expression Gavin has never seen before. 

It makes Reed choke on his laugh.

“How bad is the damage?” he asks, suddenly concerned but still high to try and hide it.

“Nothing that will require immediate technical attention. No essential biocomponents damaged. Only scratching. Several bullet holes in the trunk,” he informs still looking kind of lost.

“Great!” detective shouts, making others in the car jump a little. “We made it, fucking android god, we escaped this death fucking trap, I can’t believe how fucking cool we are.”

He smiles to himself, murmuring, and at this moment he does not want to think about cowards that sent the android doing the dirty work and did not even lift a finger to help. 

He wants to sing to himself, knowing that they are alive, and he saved the stupid android he hated so much, that this is absolutely mind-blowingly fantastic what he did, what he and Richard did, and now they have the right location and shit, and now even though he has to stand in front of Fowler he knows that he was right and he is not this useless little boy who has failed everything and everybody in his life. 

At least for a short amount of time he can be proud of himself.

It’s not going to last longer than thirty minutes, but even that is more than enough to recoup every shit he has been eating at the station, on the cases and in his own memories. For now he is fucking happy he exists. 

When they reach the precinct it’s almost midnight, and Fowler, who was still there, gave them a hard look and sent them off to their homes, and Richard to Cyberlife to check his injuries. Gavin was already half asleep, dreaming only about his bed and shower to wash off blue and red blood from his body and clothes. He heads to the parking lot to get into his car and autopilot himself to his house.

He put his hand on the holder when there is a soft voice right next to him, saying “Detective” carefully.

“Fuck you, tin can, what do you want?” he blurts out but there is no real anger, only exhaustion. 

“I do not understand,” the android answers, his LED is spinning yellow.

Gavin sigh and looks up. Richard’s eyes softly glowing in the dark, making him look surreal. 

“What, exactly?” he asks.

“Why did you come. If I receive critical damage I will simply be replaced,” RK900 is not going to give up. 

Gavin rolls his eyes. This is the most obvious thing in the world, and he’s supposed to be the most advanced model. 

“This is easy, plastic. I was pissed. They should have come inside with you, not sending you doing all the work. They should have taken their asses in there when I said it’s a trap! These pussies literally sent you to death and didn’t even care about it! Like you are some kind of a …” 

“Machine,” Richard finishes for him, and these time his LED is redder than Gavin has ever seen it. 

And by the one look in android’s eyes he can say what an idiot he has been. 

He wanted to prove to himself that androids are not just machines, believing furiously in the opposite. He wanted to hurt Richard so he would show him a bit of humanity any deviant carries inside. And he was not actually ready to see it.

There has always been something else in these blue eyes, but he never noticed, busying himself with uncovering anything that will feed his theory that androids do not have feelings, while the demolishing of this theory has been laying bare right in front of his eyes. Maybe he saw it and was too afraid to realize. 

“Listen, tin can…Richard, it’s just that I am not an asshole who leaves anybody behind when I can help it,” Gavin concludes, not looking at an android anymore.

“I don’t want you dead.” “You helped me realize so much.” “You somehow make me a better person.” It’s all too scary to say. Too soon. But the words are at the back of his mind, forming in a messages he can’t ignore anymore.

“You also have a great ass” is somewhere between them, too.

He would boil himself alive in shame soup if androids turned to be able to read minds. 

What pulls him out of his own mind is one smile.

“Thank you, detective.” 

These words echo in Gavin’s head that became too empty all of a sudden. 

And also his mother’s voice.

I hope you understand that you, in every way, failed us. Don’t you dare act like this has never happened.

He gulps down a lump in his throat. 

“Yes, whatever, tin can,” he hurries with the keys. 

Richard looks at him, probably, wondering again, but there is no way he would try to explain. Not to him, not to anyone. 

It was enough changes for him for today, and enough niceties. He did his job, he saved someone’s ass, he finds this ass very attractive – last one just a moment of weakness due to sex deprivation for how long..months? He should go pick some android lover in Eden, as he seems to be into it as of now.

Brilliant.

He does not say anything else to Richard as the android stands on the parking lot, watching Gavin leave. 

If there is sadness in his eyes, in Reed’s it’s only shame that starts to burn his insides again.


End file.
